Revelations from Fan Festival 2016 Tokyo

[WhiteArchmage]

Ivalice has a very long, detailed story that isn't outright spelled out for you in the main quest. The Age of the Gods, the rise and fall of the Espers, the Tragedy of Nabudis, the Cataclysm that wiped out the moogles and pretty much every non-hume race, it's all hidden in the help text and bestiary entries in Tactics and XII, not to mention references to Orlandu and Agrias in Vagrant Story directly relate to Tactics, AND THEN are the references to both Tactics and XII in TA2. The faux-shakespearean dialogue also makes it feel right at home in Eorzea, not to mention the whole setting normally deals a lot more with socio-political intrigue rather than FF's regular "kill the evil guy with the god-complex" kinda deal.

Also, I resent that implication! I want a sexy bunny HUSBANDO! So bring on the male viera!

[Fenral]

We all know Yoshida has a huge crush on Matsuno, and MCKF has a huge crush on Alexander O. Smith. But Ivalice should stay Ivalice and Hydaelyn should stay Hydaelyn. I'm really not sure what to think now that Yoshida has pretty much 180'd on yet another subject, this time the nature of FFXIV's 24-man raids not being purely nostalgia-driven. The Zodiac Age tie-ins are a given (maybe even a pre-order bonus like FFXIII got), but I worry for Eorzea's own identity at this rate.

[Vexander]

Also, I resent that implication! I want a sexy bunny HUSBANDO! So bring on the male viera!

Seconded. As long as we don't end up with another case of Au Ra. That was just painfully disappointing. Small cute adorable females, tall monstrous males with murder faces. If Viera reversed that I'd be quite happy.

[Ghastly]

It's named a return

Not named just Ivalice
It's named a Return to

On that note none of us Ivalice fans are saying that it will be FFXII Ivalice. What we're saying is that it's related to FFXII and we're happy about it.
For people to keep repeating the obvious (that it's not 100% Ivalice) doesn't really add anything to the discussion.

Since no one knows anything beyond the name we can only guess. My guess is this is the start of viera lore for 5.0 when they add them. Crystal tower and city of mhach are there for us to learn about who? About races/people we didn't understand too well.

That alone implies we're going to learn about new people.........that eorzea doesn't know/understand too well.

These are educated guesses: return, the reasons previous raids where added (to explore to lore of past people/people we don't know), 5.0

Lastly, I think we won't see viera until the third part of return to ivalice which will be close to 4.0's last updates before 5.0. It all goes well together.
I really hope Ivalice moogles become part of eorzea and that we even borrow some of their glamour, weapons and things.

[NorthernLadMSP]

I would love that lamia like race to be a playable race.

[Nezerius]

I'm really not sure what to think now that Yoshida has pretty much 180'd on yet another subject, this time the nature of FFXIV's 24-man raids not being purely nostalgia-driven.

Are you referring to Yoshi-P stating that the 3.x 24-man raid would be mostly unique to XIV? From what I remember, he was specifically talking about that raid, he wasn't saying that all future 24-man raids were gonna be unique to XIV, so I'm not really seeing a 180 there.

[Vexander]

I would love that lamia like race to be a playable race.

If they weren't female only I'm sure they might've been a potential candidate. They're certainly one of the less beast-looking beast tribes so far. I'm curious as to how they reproduce though. I can only guess they're not really female and more... hermaphrodite. Self-fertilization.

[Fenral]

Are you referring to Yoshi-P stating that the 3.x 24-man raid would be mostly unique to XIV? From what I remember, he was specifically talking about that raid, he wasn't saying that all future 24-man raids were gonna be unique to XIV, so I'm not really seeing a 180 there.

In an interview with Famitsu, he more broadly stated that he didn't want people to think Crystal Tower was setting a precedent for what FFXIV's 24-man raids will be. But considering the lukewarm reaction Shadow of Mhach has gotten, I'd say he changed his stance.

[Nezerius]

In an interview with Famitsu, he more broadly stated that he didn't want people to think Crystal Tower was setting a precedent for what FFXIV's 24-man raids will be. But considering the lukewarm reaction Shadow of Mhach has gotten, I'd say he changed his stance.

What I got from that interview was more along the lines of the 24-man raids not exclusively being major throwbacks to older FF games, like the Crystal Tower was. They kept the possibility to make nostalgia-like raids, while also having the option for something unique.

As for the Shadow of Mhach, I thought the raids were okay, with fun boss fights. Although the story hasn't been as strong yet, I'll reserve judgement on that for when I've played through the last part.

[Cilia]

It's named a return

Not named just Ivalice
It's named a Return to

On that note none of us Ivalice fans are saying that it will be FFXII Ivalice. What we're saying is that it's related to FFXII and we're happy about it.
For people to keep repeating the obvious (that it's not 100% Ivalice) doesn't really add anything to the discussion.

Even adding "Return to" does not add any context. We don't know what that means in the world of Hydaelyn - maybe it was a civilization that got wiped out in a previous Calamity, maybe it's a secret area the Spoken races have been barred from for eons, something - and because of that, believing it's going to have a direct relation to XII/Tactics Ivalice is rather presumptuous.

The Crystal Tower was essentially a throwback nostalgia raid to III. We knew plenty about the Allagans, and still learn more as the story rolls on.

The Shadow of Mhach... yeah, OK, but half of that is XII fanservice (sky pirates) as well.

Me buddy said it as succinctly as possible:

... I worry for Eorzea's own identity at this rate.

This is essentially why I'm so against cramming as much nostalgia and references to past games into XIV as possible. Directly transplanting elements from XII/Tactics would really, really rustle my jimmies.

(Side note: telling people who disagree with transplanting Ivalician elements into XIV they're not adding to the discussion is no more productive.)